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Healthcare systems are facing persistent challenges, such as dealing with an ageing population, related increases in chronic diseases and healthcare costs facilitated by technological progress. The authors argue that the boundaries of optimisation are being reached and a more fundamental change or transition is necessary. The purpose of this paper is to explore the contours of this transition in the Netherlands. The authors do this from the perspective of healthcare organisations that have participated in the “Expedition to Sustainable Healthcare”: a learning programme organised by the Dutch Network for Sustainable Healthcare aimed at creating frontrunners in this transition.

The paper combines conceptual with experimental empirical work. The authors use the transition research frameworks to conceptualise persistent problems and transitional dynamics in the healthcare system. In a longitudinal study, the authors analysed how the participating organisations developed after the expedition.

The process validated the initial understanding of persistent sustainability challenges. An integral approach to sustainable healthcare is translated as a transformation of culture, structures and practices and the development of capacity for crossing borders and domains, inside and outside of the organisation. To facilitate and stimulate such a process the authors found that problem structuring and collective identification of persistent problems and the unsustainability in the healthcare system is a crucial step towards a shared view and discourse that supports change.

A transition in the Dutch healthcare system is just starting to emerge and has barely been subject of research. This paper provides an empirical description of a transition management process in this context. The authors hope to lay a foundation for future work that seeks to explore transitions in healthcare in theory and practice.

A healthy and vital workforce is an asset to any organization. Workplace health management and health promotion are therefore increasingly relevant for organizations. This paper aims to identify the organizational benefits companies strive for, and analyzes the ways companies use and manage data in order to monitor, evaluate and improve the achievement of organizational benefits through workplace health management.

A case study was carried out in four frontrunner organizations in health management in The Netherlands. The benefits the companies strived for were systematically investigated, as were the ways in which the companies used and managed their relevant data.

The organizations had many data that were potentially useful for managing and evaluating the realization of the intended health and business benefits. However, these data were only available and usable in a fragmented manner. As a result, the business impact of health interventions was neither properly evaluated nor consistently managed.

The research was limited to four frontrunner companies in The Netherlands. The results presented are predominantly qualitative.

Suggestions for improving the management of organizational benefits from workplace health interventions are given here; they were formulated though an iterative process with the companies involved.

Research on the combination of health and business benefits of workplace health management has been rather limited thus far. The present paper provides a complete picture of the benefits strived for by four Dutch frontrunner organizations, as well as the data available to them, which are or could be used for guiding and improving workplace health management.

The purpose of this study is to understand how the concept of diversity management is translated and adapted into the Danish societal context. The authors therefore seek to answer these questions: to what extent do larger Danish companies experience a need to practice diversity management? Do they also have specific diversity policies? And how do these Danish companies discursively construct and manage diversity?

The authors surveyed 100 Danish firms and performed a discourse analysis of two frontrunner firms' diversity documents.

The Danish firms in the survey experienced a need for diversity management, but were somewhat reluctant to introduce diversity policies. The two frontrunner firms drew on a discourse of diversity as a business case intertwined with a discourse of social responsibility with focus on helping minority groups having difficulties accessing the job market. The findings indicate that concepts must be translated for the local context in order to be accepted by local actors.

Further studies should look closer into local practices of diversity management to increase understanding of how this seemingly universal management concept is translated.

Danish society, which until recently was relatively homogeneous, forms a specific cultural context for diversity management that differs significantly from American and British multicultural societies.

A European case study on the relationships of environmental management and health and safety with an emphasis on innovation and organisational learning in five European frontrunner companies was carried out. Three major factors are regarded as essential conditions for the realisation of innovations: the willingness and capability of the company and the availability of relevant opportunities. This project focuses on the willingness and capability for innovation. The willingness to innovate is increased by increased financial profitability, manager’s awareness of strategic importance of environmental management, well defined qualitative aims and quantitative targets, striving towards continuous improvement, the creation of new business opportunities, the involvement of R&D, improved product design, striving towards improvement in the material and energy efficiency and proven successes in this area, and improved employee motivation. The capabilities for innovation are increased by visible management commitment, a corporate culture aiming at continuous improvement in all respects (TQM), cross functional co‐operation, EHS training and qualification programmes, networking with other companies or sites, stimuli for initiatives from employees, monitoring progress in behavioural aspects, and participation and improved employee involvement. Then three aspects are discussed: the different focuses in environmental (or EHS) management; the vital contribution of the cultural aspect; the growing meaning of the “softer” aspects of EHS Management. Finally the limitations of this study are discussed.

It has been established that values, beliefs and norms are good predictors of pro-environmental behaviour; however, it is less explored how these constructs can be influenced. The purpose of this paper is to assess whether the COVID-19 pandemic, as a shock event, was a “game changer” or it had limited impacts on deep-rooted travel patterns.

To understand whether the pandemic has influenced people’s value orientations with regards to sustainable travel, the authors have made use of the value–belief–norm (VBN)theory of environmentalism and conducted a large-scale survey in Germany, Italy, France, The Netherlands and UK (N = 1545).

The findings showed that the pandemic caused only temporary change in deep-rooted travel patterns as (self-reported) pre-pandemic behaviour of respondents align with their value orientations and proved to be a good predictor of projected travel behaviour. Based on projected travel behaviour and value orientations, four market segments were identified – Frontrunners, Laggards, Comfortable Crowd and Entitled Stewards. While all segments showed willingness to adapt, the authors found variations in the extent of adaption and in the phases of the customer journey where travellers are likely to make changes.

According to our knowledge, using the VBN theory of environmentalism to understand the impact of shock events on deep-rooted travel patterns represents a new perspective. Moreover, to the best of authors’ knowledge, this study is one of the first, written in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, which looks at the impact of the health crisis on deep-rooted travel patterns, instead of the commonly studied risk perception.

This paper aims to focus on the interface between a society in transition and the role, practices and culture of businesses herein, a topic that has scarcely been researched so far. Grand challenges such as energy scarcity and resource depletion will have substantial impacts on the functioning of contemporary business models. Companies, however, still largely focus on efficiency strategies leading to sub-optimal solutions rather than radically changing their business model.

It describes a project that has been run for a social enterprise in which a transition management approach was used to discover their new future role and explore new business concepts that function within the boundaries of significantly different material management principles.

The authors discuss how this case study can contribute to the limited developed empirical research on how businesses can be more proactive in changing the way societal systems operate, and whether the approach can be relevant for transfer to the wider business community.

It offers a practical approach for businesses to innovate their business model while taking into regard sustainability issues.

The paper combines the transition management framework with business model innovation.

The authors have examined the developments in law and in practice concerning integrated reporting. An integrated report combines the most material elements of information about corporate performance (re: financial, governance, social and environmental functioning) – currently reported in separate reports – into one coherent whole. The authors first explore the motivation of companies and legislators to introduce integrating reporting. Next, they analyse how integrated reporting can be supported by legislation thereby taking into account the existing regulatory environment.

Literature study; desk research, analysing integrated reports; organisation of an international academic conference (30 May 2012 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands).

EU law needs adjusting in the field of corporate annual reporting. Although integrated reporting is currently being explored by some frontrunners of the business community and is being encouraged by investors, the existing legal framework does not offer any incentive, nor is uniformity and credibility in the reporting of non-financial information stimulated. The law gives scant guidance to companies to that end. The authors argue that amending the mandatory EU framework can support the comparability and reliability of the corporate information. Moreover, a clear and sound EU framework on integrated corporate reporting will assist international companies in their reporting. Presently, companies have to comply with various regulations at an EU and a national level, which do not enhance a holistic view in corporate reporting. The authors provide options on how to do this. They suggest combining EU mandatory corporate reporting rules with the private regulatory reporting regime developed by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI).

Focus on EU and Dutch corporate reporting laws, non-legislative frameworks, and corporate practices of frontrunners.

The chapter can provide guidance to policymakers, companies and other stakeholders who want to form an opinion on how to legally support integrated reporting. It addresses important questions, especially concerning how European and domestic legislation could be adjusted in order to (i) reflect the newest insights regarding corporate transparency and (ii) become an adequate framework for companies with added benefits for financiers and investors. Moreover, it reports on the benefits of integrated reporting for reporting companies. The authors argue that integrated reporting can be a critical tool in implementing corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the main corporate strategy of a company.